Queen Latifah Shares Her Dos and Don'ts of Life

The singer, actress, mogul, and, now, host of The Queen Latifah Show shares her life rules.

At 43, Dana Owens (Queen Latifah to the rest of us) has had enough success for 10 lifetimes—a Grammy, a Golden Globe, and a production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment. But to her friends (and now to all of America, thanks to her new CBS daytime talk show, The Queen Latifah Show), she's still that down-to-earth Jersey girl who, no joke, cleaned toilets at Burger King before her big break. We talked to the queen about life—and her personal Dos & Don'ts.

GLAMOUR: This is your second talk show. What inspired you to try again?QUEEN LATIFAH: The first time around [in 1999], it wasn't my number-one passion, which then was to become a great actor and producer. Now I've accomplished a lot of goals; I'm ready to be stable and look at starting a family.

GLAMOUR: With Oprah no longer on daytime, are you trying to fill her shoes?
QL: No, I'm not trying to fill Oprah's shoes. And, literally, I think my feet are a little bigger. Ha!

GLAMOUR: You've got competition—Bethenny Frankel has a new talk show too. Does that intimidate you?
QL: I've played basketball since grammar school. Competition is not new to me. I can't beat Bethenny at being Bethenny. But nobody can beat me at being myself, being Queen Latifah. So I'm gonna be myself, and I hope that energy will draw people in.

GLAMOUR: Who's your dream guest?
QL:President Obama. And Michelle. Their daughters are getting older now, hitting puberty; I'd want to ask what it was like having "the talk."

GLAMOUR: Back in 2007 you told Glamour you felt racism still existed in America. How did you respond to the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman verdict?
QL: This Trayvon Martin thing has put a feeling of depression on me. At the end of the day, this kid died for doing nothing wrong—and his killer walked free. We can't act like racism doesn't exist; we need an honest dialogue.

GLAMOUR: Any advice to offer them?
QL: There are too few of us to tear one another down, so keep the catfights to a minimum.

GLAMOUR: Let's talk about other life lessons. You're longtime friends with everyone from your business partner Shakim Compere to Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith. What's your biggest Do when it comes to friendship?
QL: The reason I've had friends for so long is because they can smack my hand when I do bad things and pat me on the back when I do great things. And ultimately they're there for me, regardless of either.

GLAMOUR: What do you wish you'd known sooner about dating? QL: I was an overachiever in most aspects of my life, but in my dating life, I was a little slower. It took me longer to learn the simplest things. I would've told myself to trust my instincts more.

GLAMOUR: You said earlier that you wanted to start a family...
QL: All right, already. You sound like my mom! I'm working on it.

GLAMOUR: So when do you think it is the right time to start a family?
QL: I definitely would have taken the plunge sooner. I don't think it gets easier as time goes on, so if the situation is right, I'd tell you to jump in.

GLAMOUR: Now let's do some Dos & Don'ts. Our readers want your opinion on trends. First, Abby, 25, of Chicago asks, "Juice cleanses: Do or Don't?"
QL: Do. I'm about to do one. It's good to give your system a break.

GLAMOUR: Rachel, 21, of Chappaqua, New York: "Dating a coworker?"
QL: Don't. If it goes wrong, you won't want to see each other every day.